"Just a minute." Snow swirls in when I swing open the door. I pull it closed again and walk back toward the couch.

"I told you," he says, smiling.

"Merry Christmas," I say, smiling back. I grab my trifle and spoon.

Outside the wind rushes up from the cold ground. Snow pellets land harsh across my face. I leave man-size footprints across my lawn and into the neighbors', and turn back to enjoy them and my house, the windows filled with tree lights. The neighbors' house is dark except for a quiet orange circle of light in a window upstairs.

I crouch down, grab the basketball, and shake loose the snow. I have to form it back into a bowl. For a moment I'm uncertain. This is a religious rite, but not my own. Surely it is selfish to bribe someone else's gods.

But, I think, turning back to the orange circle of light in the neighbors' window, not everything I wanted is for me. Shaking snow from the ball again, I begin to think of spring, when my neighbors' flowering tree will bloom, and of how every morning when the woman's son comes home from work, she meets him at the door and draws him in with her reedy arm. I think about holding our children tightly, and start to spoon trifle into the basketball's wide mouth.

Meet the Winner

Lori Rader Day grew up in Indiana and now lives in Chicago with her husband. She has an MFA in creative writing and is currently working on a mystery novel. Her winning entry drew raves from best-selling author/judge Jodi Picoult: "The subtlety of an unreliable narrator's character development was what blew me away in this story. Jolie's complaints only serve to help the reader  and eventually Jolie herself  see her own fears and flaws more clearly."

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